He was raised there before moving to Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, and then finally to the United States at 17 years old, where he completed high school.
[1][4] After graduating from the Pratt Institute with a bachelor's degree in architecture, Gerald moved to Washington, D.C. and worked as an architect.
[1][5] Gerald was a co-founder of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (NCBLG) in 1978[6] (initially named the National Coalition of Black Gays), alongside other activists including ABilly S. Jones-Hennin, Darlene Garner, Delores P. Berry, Louis Hughes, Rev.
[5] This protest, and the arrests of activists Ray Melrose, Melvin Boozer, Phil Pannell, and Gary Walker, attracted the attention of civil rights figures like Coretta Scott King, Joseph Lowery, and Benjamin Hooks.
During the National Conference on AIDS in the Black Community, Gerald (with activists like Suki Ports and Carl Bean) spoke for two and a half hours with C. Everett Koop, the U.S.
[13] Gerald was the director of minority affairs for the National AIDS Network in Washington, DC, focusing on the needs of Black and gay people living with HIV/AIDS.
[14][15] After moving to Los Angeles, California in 1989, Gerald became the executive director of the National Minority AIDS Council when Carl Bean stepped down.
In January 2024, Gerald appeared on an episode of WNYC Studios' Blindspot podcast titled Mourning in America alongside people like Valerie Reyes-Jimenez, Phill Wilson, and Dr. Anthony Fauci to discuss the history of the HIV/AIDS crisis.